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Czechs began going to the polls on Friday – the first of two days on which they can cast their ballot in municipal elections, as well as to elect representatives to one-third of the Senate. Polls opened at 2 PM local time and close at 10 PM on Friday. They will reopen at 8 AM Saturday and close at 2 PM. This year, a record 165 parties and movements are taking part, fielding more than 230,000 candidates for 60,000 seats in local councils. The number of those running is a third-higher than in 2010. A record number of candidates, a little over 30 percent, are women. For the first time, the municipal elections are open to all EU citizens residing in the country, be they permanent or temporary residents. Those finishing first or second in the Senate elections short of securing a majority outright, will face a run-off in a week's time.

Tests on a suspected case of Ebola in a 56-year-old patient recently back from Liberia have ruled out the deadly disease. The man was admitted to hospital with a fever but no other symptoms and may be suffering from malaria or some other illness. This is the second Ebola scare in the country. In mid-September the health authorities tested a young man from Tanzania for the disease. Special measures have been taken at Prague’s international airport and the Bulovka hospital is equipped to deal with highly contagious diseases.

Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved the lives of 669 children by bringing them out of German-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Second World War, is to come to Prague at the end of October to receive the Order of the White Lion, the Czech Republic’s highest state distinction. The award is to be presented to him by the President Miloš Zeman on the occasion of the country’s public holiday October 28th. President Zeman told journalists on Thursday that Sir Nicolas Winton had accepted the invitation and was looking forward to the visit. Nicolas Winton organized train transports of Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to Britain in 1939, securing departure permits from the German authorities, entry permits from Britain and their admission to British families. The children would otherwise have ended up in concentration camps and gas chambers. Czech top officials have repeatedly nominated Sir Nicholas Winton for the Nobel Peace Prize.

President Miloš Zeman is attending freedom celebrations in Leipzig marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of communism.The celebrations opened on October 9th on the day when, 25 years ago, 70,000 people gathered on Leipzig square for a peaceful demonstration against the communist regime in then East Germany. The event sparked similar protests in towns around the country that ended in the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9th. The freedom celebrations attended by an estimated 150,000 people, including heads of state from the former Eastern block and VIP guests from around the world, will include a prayer for peace and a festival of lights highlighting a ring-road around the historical town center.